Half to ed ward william beuthneb



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. SWEANOR.

. AMMONIA ENGINE. No. 284,987. Patented Sept. 11, 1883.

N. PETERS Plwlwlilhagmphen Wahinlh k I16.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. SWEANOR.

AMMONIA ENGINE.

No. 284,987. Patented Sept. 11, 1883.

Nrrnn STATES GEORGE SWEANOR, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO EDWVARD \VILLIAM BEUIHNER, OF SAME PLACE.

AMMONIA-ENGINE.

SPECIFICAIIION forming part of Letters Patent No. 284,987, dated September 11, 1883.

Application filed June 4, 15583. (No model.) A

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE SwEANoR, of the city of Montreal, in the District of Montreal and Province of Quebec, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ammonia-Engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to that class of engines in which the gas or vapor generated from ammonia or other liquid of low boiling-point is substituted for steam as the motive force; and it consists in means by which I secure the perfect liquefaction of the gas and its return in I 5 liquid form to the boiler. It is adapted for use in connection with all classes of engines, as in no case is any alteration of the main features of construction required, and may be thus described: The boiler, which may be of any desired kind, is charged with liquidan1n10 nia, and the gas generated from this by heat is taken to the cylinder in the usual way, works the piston, and passes off by the ex haust. In addition to these ordinary features of construction I place in any suitable position relatively to the boiler and engine a vessel or reservoir containing liquid ammonia of the same strength as that in the boiler, which is kept cool by the circulation of water. This vessel I call the absorber, and from it is taken a feed or supply pipe connected with the boiler, into which a pump worked by the piston cross-head or in any other suitablemanner forces the liquid in the usual way. The gas,which,in passing off from the exhaust,

holds a proportion of steam, is taken to avessel which I call the cooler, and is there reduced in temperature by contact with surfaces cooled by the circulation of water. It is then taken off by a pipe from the cooler to the absorber, and met 011 its way by a column of liquid ammonia drawn from the absorber and forced into the pipe by a pump,by which it is reliquefied and passes along the downwardly-inclined pipe to the absorber, which is thus always kept replenished with liquid ammonia.

For full comprehension of my invention reference must be had to the annexed drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan View of a horizontal stationary engine constructed upon my plan to' use ammonia or like liquid. Fig.

2 is an end view of same; Fig. 3, a sectional View on line 00 r, Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a similar viewv on line z 2, Fig. 1; and Fig. 5,a detail, enlarged, of stuffing-box.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts. r

It will be understood that the usual and well-known construction of a horizontal en- 6o gine is only shown here sufficiently to insure the comprehension of the invention, and that parts of the mechanism whichdo not relate thereto maybe omitted.

A is the boiler, A the steam-drum, and a the feed-pipe to the steam-chest B of the cylinder B, with piston operating, as usual, main driving-shaft with fly-wheel and any means of transmitting motion, all these being of any usual construction, and therefore not material to the invention. c

G is the vessel or reservoir which I term the absorber, made of some such size and proportion as that shown, and having internal perforated diaphragms, O, and pipes 0 so as 7 5 to allow of the circulation through it of water to keep cool the liquid ammonia-contained in the body of the vessel, which is provided with a gage, c.

D is the supply-pipe, provided with stopcock D, leading from the absorber G to the pump E, which is of any ordinary type, placed where shown, and operated by the cross-head in the usual way. By this pump the liquid is forced by the pipe f into the feed-heater 85. F, and thence through the pipe G into the boiler. (The feed-heater may in many cases be omitted and the pipe G be simply a con tinuation of D.)

H is the exhaustpipe taken froinB to the 0 vessel K, which I term the cooler, the gas and steam held in suspense passing through pipes K, over surfaces cooled by the circulation of water, and carried off by the pipe L, communicating with the absorber O. 5

M is a pipe connecting thelower part of the ammonia-chamber in the absorber O with the pipe L, and having mounted on it a pump, M, in this case worked by the crank, by which liquid ammonia is drawn off from the ab- IOO sorber and forced into the pipe L, there. coming into contact with the gas from the cooler K and liquefying it, the gas thus liquefied falling down through the pipe L, which is set at any desired angle of inclination, into the absorber O. The construction of the two vesse1sthe absorber O and cooler Kmaybe varied from that shown in the drawings-as, for instance, by substituting a coil or worm for the pipes so long as a cooling-surface is presented in the latter to the gas passing through and in the former to the liquid contents of the vessel. As the absorber O is on a lower level than K, the .Water is by preference let first into the cooler, through which it circulates, and then passes oif by the pipe k to the absorber G, from which, after circulation, it is let off.

The operation of my invention resembles so closely that of an ordinary steam-engine that it is suflicient to say that the boiler A and absorber O are both suppliedwith liquid ammonia of equal strength, and that the gas evolved therefrom in the boiler works the engine, and, passing from the exhaust to the cooler, is there reduced in temperature, and on its passage through the pipe L to the absorber is liquefied by.the contact therewith of liquid ammonia pumped up from the absorber through the pipe M, falling back, when so liquefied, in the absorber, from which the expenditure of ammonia in the boiler is supplied, the pump D, when the stop D is opened, acting in the usual way.

In order to prevent what has usually been found the most serious defect in ammoniacalgas enginesviz., the difficulty of preventing the escape of the volatile gas from the jointsa difiiculty which h as been but imperfectly remedied by the use of petroleum as packing Iuse the construction shown particularly in Fig. 5, and now to bedescribed. In this figure N is the stuffing-box; O, the gland, and P the packing, which may be of hemp or any substance in ordinary use for the purpose. The stuffing-box is, however, formed with a gas-chamber, N, from which a pipe, Q, communicates with the exhaust H, thus drawing off any gas entering the chamber N, which might otherwise escape through the packing.

This arrangement of stnfling-box is applied to the piston and pump rods, and in all cases in which lubricated packing-joints exist, and, as shown in Fig. 1, these pipes Q may be so arranged as to have but one junction with the main exhaust H. I propose, in addition to these auxiliary exhausts, to connect the safety-. valve on the boiler with pipe H bya pipe, Q, so that an extra pressure of gas will, instead of being blown off, be taken to the cooler to be reliquefied, thus avoiding waste.

It must be clearly understood that although my invention is in the present case shown and described as applied to one type of horizontal engines, it can be used equally well with all kinds of engines without'altering their constructionor the nature of the invention itself.

As brass and copper are afi'ected bythe ammonia liquid and gas, the valve-seats and stems, joints, junctions, 820., must be made' of iron or white-metal.

I am, aware that ammoniacal-gas engines have been in use before my invention; but in most of these the condensation is effected by liquid drawn from the boiler and artificially cooled, thus accomplishing the purpose at the cost of the energy generated in the boiler.

I am also aware that the gas from the exhaust of an ammonia-engine has been brought into contact with a solutionof ammonia drawn from a reservoir; but in one instance the result claimed is not the liquefaction of the gas, andin none does the reservoir serve to supply the boiler. I therefore disclaim all such methods and apparatus, what I do claim being as follows:

1. The method of liquefying gas or vapor generated from ammonia or other liquid of low boiling-point, and used as the motive force in an engine by bringing it, after being cooled, in contact with a column of ammonia or like fluid forced up from a separate reservoir, into which such gas falls when liquefied, all as herein set forth.

2. The combination, with an engine of any type in which liquid ammonia is substituted for water, of a vessel through which the vapor from the exhaust passes and is cooled, and a reservoir or absorber into which the gas, when liquefied, falls and from which the boilersupply is replenished, all as herein set forth.

Montreal, 26th day of May, A. D. 1883.

GEORGE SWEANOR.

WVitnesses:

FRAS. HY. REYNOLDS, OWEN N. Evans. 

